Memory devices often reside in computers and electronic products to store data. A memory device has many memory cells, each holding an electrical charge that represents a bit of data. External data is stored in the memory cells during a write operation. The stored data is retrieved from the memory cells during a read operation. The write and read operations are memory access operations.
A typical memory device has a number of control lines, each connecting to one or more corresponding memory cells. During a memory access operation, the memory device controls a voltage on each control line to access the memory cells to either store data or retrieve data. Control lines of these types are usually called word lines.
A typical memory device has a number of word line drivers. Each word line driver drives a corresponding word line to various voltages. For example, some memory devices have word line drivers that drive the corresponding word lines to a positive voltage during a memory access operation. After the memory access operation, the word line drivers drive the corresponding word lines to a negative voltage.
Some memory devices have word line drivers that drive the corresponding word lines from a positive voltage to a negative voltage using one discharge path. In some of these memory devices, driving the word lines from a positive voltage to a negative voltage using one discharge path generates excessive noise, causing the memory device to perform inefficiently.